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Tuesday, December 25, 2012

Went to the Humptulips and fought two landed one lost the other in a snag. I was drifting glow corky and red spawn sac's. Fished from 4-7:30am. It blasted sleet for the first hour and a half then started to snow my fingers turned blue but you don't feel that when a fish is on.

Monday, November 26, 2012

I went to the Nisqually to see if there was anything going on first cast and wham I hooked a 8lb chum hen. In the next five casts landed two more chum they were as bright as I have ever seen. I was using orange dot glow corkie and black yarn at the handy cap hole. 1 1/2 oz weight. I going to cook some of the meat for dinner tomorrow to see what chum taste like.The rest will go in the smoker.Loser Takes All!

Saturday, November 24, 2012

Went to the mud flats and peg these chums with green corkie and black yarn. Caught and released 15 other fish. When something gets in front of these fish they mash it. I had a pretty long leader about 5' and could see the fish attack the corkie. Green corkie with black yarn was the most productive but other combos worked. I fished low tide to mid high tide.

My brother in law bested me for brightness but all the fish with white bellies seem to have orange or better meat.

Monday, November 19, 2012

Chums are a fun fish. The have a fighting style that would make any steelhead fanatic jealous. Jumping , flipping, and the unique walk on water they don't give in easy. The color I favor for getting them to bite is green or glow, but if you find the school all you need is to get the offering in their way and they will do the rest.Loser Takes All!

Tuesday, November 13, 2012

To reduce illegal snagging of Cowlitz River coho salmon, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) is reinstituting two fishing regulations that expired for a fishery below the Cowlitz Salmon Hatchery.From Nov. 6 through Dec. 31, a non-buoyant lure restriction and night closure will be in effect on the section of the Cowlitz River between 100 feet and 400 feet downstream from the barrier dam below the hatchery.The department recently opened those waters to anglers to expand fishing opportunities for large numbers of coho salmon returning to the hatchery. Since then, WDFW enforcement officers have reported an increase in snagging activity below the dam where migrating coho salmon are now congregating, said Craig Burley, WDFW regional fish manager."These regulations are being reinstituted to promote an orderly fishery," Burley said. "We encourage anglers to take advantage of the large return of hatchery coho to the Cowlitz River, but it's important that everyone plays by the rules."Under statewide fishing rules, it is illegal to fish using techniques where the fish does not voluntarily take the hook in its mouth.WDFW estimates that 50,000 to 60,000 adult coho will return to the Cowlitz Salmon Hatchery this fall, and similarly large returns are anticipated at other southwest Washington hatcheries.Besides opening the fishery below the Cowlitz Salmon Hatchery, the department recently increased the daily limit on adult coho from two to four fish per day for anglers fishing from the Cowlitz River mouth to Mayfield Dam through Dec. 31. It also arranged with Tacoma Power, which owns the Cowlitz hatchery, to recycle some coho presently in hatchery ponds to Riffe Lake to provide additional recreational fishing opportunities.The large coho return is due primarily to new recreational and commercial fishing constraints implemented for the first time in the lower Columbia River to protect naturally produced coho recently listed as threatened under the federal Endangered Species Act.Burley noted that a new management plan for fisheries and hatcheries on the Cowlitz River also includes provisions for boosting naturally spawning coho populations in the upper Cowlitz River. Parties involved in developing the new management plan for the Cowlitz River include WDFW, the Washington Department of Ecology, Tacoma Power, the Yakama Nation, NOAA-Fisheries, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and American Rivers/Trout Unlimited.One provision of that plan calls for moving from a policy of passing 10 hatchery coho to every one naturally produced coho upriver to a goal of passing one hatchery coho for every naturally produced coho moved upstream. Naturally produced coho are the offspring of fish that spawned in the upper river.However, Burley said recent analysis of out-migration data indicates that the fish-collection facility below Cowlitz Dam does not currently capture enough naturally produced juvenile coho to support moving to a one-to-one ratio this year.As a result, parties to the management plan recently agreed that this year's goal should be to move approximately 35,000 coho upriver, including a combination of naturally produced and hatchery-reared fish. That represents a ratio of approximately five adult hatchery coho for every natural coho passed upstream, Burley said."While we support the goal of being more selective with the fish passed upriver, it's critical that we move enough fish into the upper river to support the long-term sustainability of the run," Burley said. "Once the trapping efficiency of the collection facility is improved, we can begin moving toward the one-to-one ratio referenced in the plan."Loser Takes All!

Friday, October 12, 2012

The rain has finally come. I have my eye on the Cowlitz. The coho should be running strong. Glow balls in the early morning and late evening did the trick last year, but I have yet to make the trip. These are some of last years coho.

Monday, October 1, 2012

My sister fished for the first time this year and these are the fish she got.These are some hogs. They are wild and had to be let go but they stopped for pictures before continuing upriver.Got my limit in less than a hour.The sea lice are still on them

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Here is an answer to a few guys that say they can hook fish but keep having them run off with the hook. These are the knots I use.

1. Run a line through the hook eye and down the shank of the hook. Form a loop below the hook with the line.

2. Pass tag end of line around hook shank and through loop 4 to 6 times. Keep wraps tight to each other.

3. Work coils down shank to eye and pull tag end and standing line to tighten.

This is the knot I use for tying my swivel.

1.) Pass a 15cm loop of line through the eye.Lock the upper part between thumb and forefinger, making a loop.2.) Make two more loops over the double part, holding them too, between thumb and forefinger.3.) Pass the end through the two loops just made, plus the first loop made in step2.4.) The formed knot can now be drawn into shape, and worked down against the eye of the hook or swivel.

Saturday, September 15, 2012

I went all week four mornings before work and one evening without a fish taken. I hooked and fought 21 fish and had a number within six feet of me but still lost them mainly to leader breaking. I upgraded to twenty pound test and still lost them. But today my streak was over one silver and one chinook mini jack.

This red bead set up worked to get the fish to bite: use a 0/2 gamakatsu barbless hook, 2 beads, 20lb mono leader about 8' long. Tie the leader to the hook then slide the beads on and run the leader through the eye of the hook.